So, I'm sorry that it's been a while since I posted here, I've had to move and rearrange things in my life and blogging hasn't been the major priority.
Hopefully though i'll be able to figure out things and get back on track soon enough. Right now I'll try to spend the afternoon working on my webpage. I would like to get that rolling now that I have business cards made provided by Moo.com, which i highly recommend!
Hang in there for me, and I'll chat with you soon!
Thanks!
Mb
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Down In San Antonio, TX
We were in San Antonio for a couple of days before the event. Luckily we stayed in Towneplace Suites during this time so there was a kitchen and lovely flat screen TV to take advantage of.
Juan and I were both in hearing impaired rooms so we took advantage of bothering each other sporadically throughout the days there ringing the door bells, which were loud, obnoxious, and annoying if anything. But it was a lot of fun!!
The first night there neither one of us felt like going out. I was still feeling the hangover from drinking the evening before and Juan I think didn’t get enough sleep either. Both of us just watched the TrueBlood marathon that was going on and made plans later to grab food for ourselves and shop for the even the next day.
After the Trueblood season finally, I decided to try to get in a little of San Antonio and visit the Alamo. Whenever I visit, I always think of the Alamo Basement joke, and Ozzy Osbourne peeing on the Alamo. Gotta be a tough break to never be allowed to visit this city again, it’s pretty beautiful. I like to think of it as the New Orleans of Texas, except less drinking and more relaxation.
I got out to the riverwalk rather late, so I was only on it for a little bit. I did swing by the Alamo though, but again it was late so there was no where to park and everything was closed down for the day.
Last time I was there was with Voodoo Daddy and I was able to walk around a little more. I sat out by the river and had a margarita by myself and took in the view. The only bummer I ever experience from touring is that I always miss my friends the most when I’m taking in the greatest things that make me happy, probably because I wish they were there for them as well. Just to share in it all.
The event the next day was good. Here our buddy, Vince Clemons joined us. The call center was divided into two buildings so we broke our power hours in half and were able to squeeze in a lunch at FreeBirds to boot!
We left immediately after the event and headed to Houston. Woot woot!
Juan and I were both in hearing impaired rooms so we took advantage of bothering each other sporadically throughout the days there ringing the door bells, which were loud, obnoxious, and annoying if anything. But it was a lot of fun!!
The first night there neither one of us felt like going out. I was still feeling the hangover from drinking the evening before and Juan I think didn’t get enough sleep either. Both of us just watched the TrueBlood marathon that was going on and made plans later to grab food for ourselves and shop for the even the next day.
After the Trueblood season finally, I decided to try to get in a little of San Antonio and visit the Alamo. Whenever I visit, I always think of the Alamo Basement joke, and Ozzy Osbourne peeing on the Alamo. Gotta be a tough break to never be allowed to visit this city again, it’s pretty beautiful. I like to think of it as the New Orleans of Texas, except less drinking and more relaxation.
I got out to the riverwalk rather late, so I was only on it for a little bit. I did swing by the Alamo though, but again it was late so there was no where to park and everything was closed down for the day.
Last time I was there was with Voodoo Daddy and I was able to walk around a little more. I sat out by the river and had a margarita by myself and took in the view. The only bummer I ever experience from touring is that I always miss my friends the most when I’m taking in the greatest things that make me happy, probably because I wish they were there for them as well. Just to share in it all.
The event the next day was good. Here our buddy, Vince Clemons joined us. The call center was divided into two buildings so we broke our power hours in half and were able to squeeze in a lunch at FreeBirds to boot!
We left immediately after the event and headed to Houston. Woot woot!
Summin' up the Good Stuff Sept-October 2009
Well, it's been quite sometime since I've gotten everything up to date!
Sorry that all these blog entries are coming in in one go, but that's how it goes when I have an ample amount of free time and just feel like bounding out my adventures on a keyboard!
Since you're already been hit with a ton of updates that are ummm...a little lenghty, I figure I'll just bulletin the current events of September & October, with a wee bit of detail.
September - October
-Moved! : yup, it FINALLY happened!!! I moved right when I got back home from my place in Van Nuys to a new place below downtown LA. Now I'm living with a new set of boys from my Emerson days, and surprisingly, they're alot cleaner.
-Back to Lush: as I am a little worker bee, I just went straight back to working at the ol' soap shop as soon as I knew my end date, now we're prepping for the holidays and getting some awesome new items which I'm super excited about!
-CenterStaging: I went back here too, but wasn't working through the month of October due to the company transitioning, but now I just started back and look forward to being there for a while with a fresh start and a new desk :)
-Disneyland: another thing I always like to do when I come back home is take another vacation!! Haha. So the easiest and cheapest one (because I have the annual pass) is Disneyland. Usually my tours always end around October, so I get to catch the fall decorations that are at the park and see the Haunted Mansion decorated with Nightmare Before Christmas stuff (love it). I probably went 2 or 3 times when I was home, once with Alexis and Tamra, then another time by myself (which was actually really awesome) then another time with Tamra and some friends. Hopefully, I'll go one more time before my pass expires, but we'll see.....yeah I know I'm a little freak..
-Friends: caught up with a couple of people when I got home like Emily, Nick, Tamra, Camila, Peter S, Cricket. Also went to some parties and missed some others :/ but what are you gonna do when you get triple booked on the weekends!!
-Shows: Saw Dr. Dog at the Music Box which I was really looking forward to and caught up with Sara and Kevin there. Also saw Flynn Adam and Peter Daily play at On the Rox which was a good time. I've been meaning to go to a burlesque show that some friends of mine, and my roommate have talked about, but still haven't found the time to do that. Also saw the opening act for Dr. Dog, can't remember the name of the artist, but I'd really been interested to hear his music live, now I'm not sure if I've still completely into his sound though. As soon as the dust settles though (as I just got back from another trip) I'll probably see who's playing and go check them out.
-VooDoo Fest: Well, this event was super yummy! Again I had to take a car and metro a bus and a plane to get there but it was an adventure all the same. I stayed over in Loyola with my good friend Maggie. It was sooo cool to see her school and check out New Orleans from a different location then the quarter. While Maggie was in school I would go to the Audubon Zoo which was located near her campus. I hadn't been there since I was really small, and of course it looked different, but I had vague memories of a few locations in the zoo. One of my favorite parts was the swamp area where you're walking on a wooden bridge for the most part. There, of course, is where they keep the alligators and other swamp livin' creatures. They also had 2 of the 8 (?) albino alligators there still. I think 3 had died and the rest are in a farm in Myrtle Beach.
The hurricane really gave the zoo a bit of a beating, but aside from alot of the trees being gone, everything else seemed fairly similar from what I remember.
Another location I went to was the French Quarter. I went down there one day by myself over near Jackson Square and checked out the church for the first time. It was real nice inside, but nothing I'd call super amazing. I suppose once you have seen some of the greater churches in the world that are all in europe, some other churches just can't make the cut.
As much as I am not a festival person, I did enjoy this one. Probably because I got a mad hook-up from my friend, Dan. We got there on Friday and I got my wristband which apparently had access to some special lounge where they kept the free food and free massages. There was also no need to campout infront of the stages for hours as we had access to a special area that provided front row access!
The first day was a little crazy. I kept trying to find Maggie and her friend, Ryan, which failed for th most part. It was also raining alot, which was no bueno. Eventually I found them towards the end of the evening, but couldn't hang with them for too long, as I was going to the Park the Van Showcase near the quarter. Eminem was supposed to be playing at the festival that evening, but Maggie and I got to see his soundcheck the day before (curtosey of Dan), so I was satisfied with that.
After leaving the festival I met up with my friend, Kevin near the quarter and he took me to where the show was. Spinto Band, the Generationals, and The Peekers were playing that night, and it was definitely a show not to miss. Spinto Band of course did a great job as always, and the Generationals were interesting too. I'd never heard them before, and will probably give a listen to them in the future. I really liked how they had a female drummer, and she was quite good and quirky.
The Peekers rounded out the show headlining. This was suiting for them as it was their last show ever, kind of a bummer, but things have to change I suppose. Kevin, was hoping that Giant Clouds and some other bands under PTV might be able to play some of the Peekers songs live in their sets, which isn't a bad idea, but has to be something I guess the Peekers agree upon.
I'm a little sad about the Peekers not coming out with anymore music collectively, but I think there will be branch offs from that group that might be just as strong. I am happy though I got to hear 'Close My Eyes' one more time, I wish they would've played 'Hey Little Kitty' also though.
After getting a ride back to campus from Kevin, I went to go reunite with Maggie and her friends. They were at this bar called The Boot which wasn't too far of a walk. Just being there made me think of how I was sooo over (and really never into) the college dancing scene. I dunno, maybe it just depends where you group up. This place was loud trendy music (mainly hip hop) and alot of people grinding and drinking. Sooo not what i'm into. I prefer dancing with friends and going to bars yep yep yep. Soon as I go to the bar though, everyone was pretty much ready to head out, which was fine with me, I was pretty tired.
The second day of Voodoo Fest was Halloween! This was probably the first year I really didn't pay attention to the holiday as much though due to being busy with music all day. When Maggie, Ryan, and me got there, I volunteered to get us some free food from the VIP area. As I was in line for food I was texting Dan, and eventually met up with him for some Wolfmother sidestage passes. It was a little stressful for a second to get Maggie and Ryan to meet up with me on the right side of the stage. There was sooo many people and Maggie's reception on her phone wasn't on point. But we found each other and went backstage for ths show. Maggie and Ryan were super excited about it, which made me really happy. I always love to spoil Ms. Mags when I'm able to :)
After Wolfmother played we exited over by the VIP area & VIP pit, since Maggie and Ryan had regular tickets, we just stayed here a while until it was time for KISS to play. After Jane's Addication wrapped on the other stage, KISS was gearing up to go on! I was telling Maggie earlier that day that I was actually kinda excited to see them. I mean, if you think about it, they're one of the most iconic living acts still around today, so it would be worth seeing. The show was amazing, and seeing KISS on Halloween is just the coolest thing in itself. I can't believe that they're now the best show I've ever seen live, but it's true! And I only know one of their songs!! After the show we went back to the VIP area and ate some of the KISS cake that was made for the VIP area. It was soo good!
To finish off the night, we were going to go down to Bourbon & Frenchman for some crazy times, but as soon as we got back to the dorm rooms reality hit, and we were tired. We opted instead to go back to th bar area around the campus as it would be just a walk and wouldn't take as long to get there. Again, it reminded me of college and a part of my life I was already over and done with, but it was a good time all the same to be hang with Maggie and meet some of her friends. Maggie's roommate Carla also joined us later that night which was awesome. She's just a ball of fun!
The next day we slept in for a bit, but went to go check out some band that Maggie and Ryan really wanted to see. I went to go get grits at the VIP area. I was also gonna try getting a free massage, but the line was long for that and the show was done for Maggie and Ryan. We went back to campus to get some food then took showers and napped for a while. We were gonna head back to the show to catch Flaming Lips play at 6ish, but then I got in contact with Dan again and he was gonna hook me up with some side stage passes for that. We hurried on down there, but by the time I met up with him they were over capacity for the side stage so we couldnt' get in for that. No worries there though, Dan, definitely did his best hooking me up that weekend for sure :) He also gave me and my friends some side stage passes for Lenny Kravitz. Not an artist I thought I'd see perform ever, but he was pretty good. When we went backstage for that, we had to hang out on the other side of the gate for a bit because Lenny, himself, was getting to the stage and they didnt' want anyone moving around til he was on it. We did get to see the drummer and the guitarist for the band backstage and they were really chill. Maggie and Ryan were having a good time taking pictures etc. so that made me happy.
After the show Ryan left for Baton Rouge and me and Mags just chilled and went to sleep.
On my last full day in New Orleans, I spent it in the French Quarter. I wanted to go shopping and get Maggie some cute things since she was nice enough to let me stay with her, and I hadn't bought her anything in years. I thought of it as making up for birthdays. I also had lunch with Frances Bordlee which was awesome. I hadn't seen her in a while and it was good to catch up with her on her life and what she was up to. Her and I went to Two Sisters for lunch and just exchanged info on other people we new as well as talked about ourselves and our own personal plans for the next year. It was really awesome, I missed Frances.
After parting ways, the shopping commenced and I picked up some lovely things for Ms Mags to make up for all those Bdays I missed.
That evening, Mags, me and her roommate, Carla, went to a near by night spot for some late night grubbage. The next day I caught the streetcar up to some road, which took me to some bus, which then took me to the airport and flew back to Los Angeles. It was a great stay with Mags and I am soo happy that Dan was able to hook it up and get me a pass to voodoo fest!
Sorry that all these blog entries are coming in in one go, but that's how it goes when I have an ample amount of free time and just feel like bounding out my adventures on a keyboard!
Since you're already been hit with a ton of updates that are ummm...a little lenghty, I figure I'll just bulletin the current events of September & October, with a wee bit of detail.
September - October
-Moved! : yup, it FINALLY happened!!! I moved right when I got back home from my place in Van Nuys to a new place below downtown LA. Now I'm living with a new set of boys from my Emerson days, and surprisingly, they're alot cleaner.
-Back to Lush: as I am a little worker bee, I just went straight back to working at the ol' soap shop as soon as I knew my end date, now we're prepping for the holidays and getting some awesome new items which I'm super excited about!
-CenterStaging: I went back here too, but wasn't working through the month of October due to the company transitioning, but now I just started back and look forward to being there for a while with a fresh start and a new desk :)
-Disneyland: another thing I always like to do when I come back home is take another vacation!! Haha. So the easiest and cheapest one (because I have the annual pass) is Disneyland. Usually my tours always end around October, so I get to catch the fall decorations that are at the park and see the Haunted Mansion decorated with Nightmare Before Christmas stuff (love it). I probably went 2 or 3 times when I was home, once with Alexis and Tamra, then another time by myself (which was actually really awesome) then another time with Tamra and some friends. Hopefully, I'll go one more time before my pass expires, but we'll see.....yeah I know I'm a little freak..
-Friends: caught up with a couple of people when I got home like Emily, Nick, Tamra, Camila, Peter S, Cricket. Also went to some parties and missed some others :/ but what are you gonna do when you get triple booked on the weekends!!
-Shows: Saw Dr. Dog at the Music Box which I was really looking forward to and caught up with Sara and Kevin there. Also saw Flynn Adam and Peter Daily play at On the Rox which was a good time. I've been meaning to go to a burlesque show that some friends of mine, and my roommate have talked about, but still haven't found the time to do that. Also saw the opening act for Dr. Dog, can't remember the name of the artist, but I'd really been interested to hear his music live, now I'm not sure if I've still completely into his sound though. As soon as the dust settles though (as I just got back from another trip) I'll probably see who's playing and go check them out.
-VooDoo Fest: Well, this event was super yummy! Again I had to take a car and metro a bus and a plane to get there but it was an adventure all the same. I stayed over in Loyola with my good friend Maggie. It was sooo cool to see her school and check out New Orleans from a different location then the quarter. While Maggie was in school I would go to the Audubon Zoo which was located near her campus. I hadn't been there since I was really small, and of course it looked different, but I had vague memories of a few locations in the zoo. One of my favorite parts was the swamp area where you're walking on a wooden bridge for the most part. There, of course, is where they keep the alligators and other swamp livin' creatures. They also had 2 of the 8 (?) albino alligators there still. I think 3 had died and the rest are in a farm in Myrtle Beach.
The hurricane really gave the zoo a bit of a beating, but aside from alot of the trees being gone, everything else seemed fairly similar from what I remember.
Another location I went to was the French Quarter. I went down there one day by myself over near Jackson Square and checked out the church for the first time. It was real nice inside, but nothing I'd call super amazing. I suppose once you have seen some of the greater churches in the world that are all in europe, some other churches just can't make the cut.
As much as I am not a festival person, I did enjoy this one. Probably because I got a mad hook-up from my friend, Dan. We got there on Friday and I got my wristband which apparently had access to some special lounge where they kept the free food and free massages. There was also no need to campout infront of the stages for hours as we had access to a special area that provided front row access!
The first day was a little crazy. I kept trying to find Maggie and her friend, Ryan, which failed for th most part. It was also raining alot, which was no bueno. Eventually I found them towards the end of the evening, but couldn't hang with them for too long, as I was going to the Park the Van Showcase near the quarter. Eminem was supposed to be playing at the festival that evening, but Maggie and I got to see his soundcheck the day before (curtosey of Dan), so I was satisfied with that.
After leaving the festival I met up with my friend, Kevin near the quarter and he took me to where the show was. Spinto Band, the Generationals, and The Peekers were playing that night, and it was definitely a show not to miss. Spinto Band of course did a great job as always, and the Generationals were interesting too. I'd never heard them before, and will probably give a listen to them in the future. I really liked how they had a female drummer, and she was quite good and quirky.
The Peekers rounded out the show headlining. This was suiting for them as it was their last show ever, kind of a bummer, but things have to change I suppose. Kevin, was hoping that Giant Clouds and some other bands under PTV might be able to play some of the Peekers songs live in their sets, which isn't a bad idea, but has to be something I guess the Peekers agree upon.
I'm a little sad about the Peekers not coming out with anymore music collectively, but I think there will be branch offs from that group that might be just as strong. I am happy though I got to hear 'Close My Eyes' one more time, I wish they would've played 'Hey Little Kitty' also though.
After getting a ride back to campus from Kevin, I went to go reunite with Maggie and her friends. They were at this bar called The Boot which wasn't too far of a walk. Just being there made me think of how I was sooo over (and really never into) the college dancing scene. I dunno, maybe it just depends where you group up. This place was loud trendy music (mainly hip hop) and alot of people grinding and drinking. Sooo not what i'm into. I prefer dancing with friends and going to bars yep yep yep. Soon as I go to the bar though, everyone was pretty much ready to head out, which was fine with me, I was pretty tired.
The second day of Voodoo Fest was Halloween! This was probably the first year I really didn't pay attention to the holiday as much though due to being busy with music all day. When Maggie, Ryan, and me got there, I volunteered to get us some free food from the VIP area. As I was in line for food I was texting Dan, and eventually met up with him for some Wolfmother sidestage passes. It was a little stressful for a second to get Maggie and Ryan to meet up with me on the right side of the stage. There was sooo many people and Maggie's reception on her phone wasn't on point. But we found each other and went backstage for ths show. Maggie and Ryan were super excited about it, which made me really happy. I always love to spoil Ms. Mags when I'm able to :)
After Wolfmother played we exited over by the VIP area & VIP pit, since Maggie and Ryan had regular tickets, we just stayed here a while until it was time for KISS to play. After Jane's Addication wrapped on the other stage, KISS was gearing up to go on! I was telling Maggie earlier that day that I was actually kinda excited to see them. I mean, if you think about it, they're one of the most iconic living acts still around today, so it would be worth seeing. The show was amazing, and seeing KISS on Halloween is just the coolest thing in itself. I can't believe that they're now the best show I've ever seen live, but it's true! And I only know one of their songs!! After the show we went back to the VIP area and ate some of the KISS cake that was made for the VIP area. It was soo good!
To finish off the night, we were going to go down to Bourbon & Frenchman for some crazy times, but as soon as we got back to the dorm rooms reality hit, and we were tired. We opted instead to go back to th bar area around the campus as it would be just a walk and wouldn't take as long to get there. Again, it reminded me of college and a part of my life I was already over and done with, but it was a good time all the same to be hang with Maggie and meet some of her friends. Maggie's roommate Carla also joined us later that night which was awesome. She's just a ball of fun!
The next day we slept in for a bit, but went to go check out some band that Maggie and Ryan really wanted to see. I went to go get grits at the VIP area. I was also gonna try getting a free massage, but the line was long for that and the show was done for Maggie and Ryan. We went back to campus to get some food then took showers and napped for a while. We were gonna head back to the show to catch Flaming Lips play at 6ish, but then I got in contact with Dan again and he was gonna hook me up with some side stage passes for that. We hurried on down there, but by the time I met up with him they were over capacity for the side stage so we couldnt' get in for that. No worries there though, Dan, definitely did his best hooking me up that weekend for sure :) He also gave me and my friends some side stage passes for Lenny Kravitz. Not an artist I thought I'd see perform ever, but he was pretty good. When we went backstage for that, we had to hang out on the other side of the gate for a bit because Lenny, himself, was getting to the stage and they didnt' want anyone moving around til he was on it. We did get to see the drummer and the guitarist for the band backstage and they were really chill. Maggie and Ryan were having a good time taking pictures etc. so that made me happy.
After the show Ryan left for Baton Rouge and me and Mags just chilled and went to sleep.
On my last full day in New Orleans, I spent it in the French Quarter. I wanted to go shopping and get Maggie some cute things since she was nice enough to let me stay with her, and I hadn't bought her anything in years. I thought of it as making up for birthdays. I also had lunch with Frances Bordlee which was awesome. I hadn't seen her in a while and it was good to catch up with her on her life and what she was up to. Her and I went to Two Sisters for lunch and just exchanged info on other people we new as well as talked about ourselves and our own personal plans for the next year. It was really awesome, I missed Frances.
After parting ways, the shopping commenced and I picked up some lovely things for Ms Mags to make up for all those Bdays I missed.
That evening, Mags, me and her roommate, Carla, went to a near by night spot for some late night grubbage. The next day I caught the streetcar up to some road, which took me to some bus, which then took me to the airport and flew back to Los Angeles. It was a great stay with Mags and I am soo happy that Dan was able to hook it up and get me a pass to voodoo fest!
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